Film Bota — New York Premiere

Directors: Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci Cast: Flonja Kodheli, Artur Gorishti, Fioralba Kryemadhi, Tinka Kurti, Alban Ukaj, Luca Lionello “Bota” is the Albanian word for “world,” but also the pointedly symbolic name for the cafe at the heart of the film, a ramshackle roadside diner at the far end of a dusty road through a lonely stretch of swampland. With a wrecked car perched on its roof and a mysterious vagrant sleeping beneath its raised floor, this No Man’s Land setting has an almost dreamlike aura, like something from a classic Fellini film or Samuel Beckett play. The backdrop might be contemporary Albania, but time and location are both a little otherworldly.

The prime protagonist is Juli (Flonja Kodheli), a pensive young woman who divides her time between looking after her elderly great-aunt Noje (Tinka Kurti) in her crumbling apartment block and working at the cafe, which is owned by her cousin Benni (Artur Gorishti). The married, middle-aged Benni is also dangerously in debt and entangled in an adulterous affair with his 25-year-old mistress Nora (Fioralba Kryemadhi). Meanwhile, an Italian-Albanian construction crew is building a highway nearby, dangling the vague promise of financial windfalls and romantic adventure to these three stranded souls.

A co-production between Albania, Italy and Kosovo, Bota impresses with its unschooled young stars, its evocative retro soundtrack and its attractive panoramic views of a dusty corner of Europe that is rarely seen onscreen.